The Impact of Infection Versus Colonization on Clostridioides difficile Environmental Contamination in Hospitalized Patients With Diarrhea

Hot off the press from the DiRTE Lab, the newest addition to the DCASIP, Lab Director Bobby Warren and his team take us through their work studying environmental contamination from patients with CDI. 

Patients with Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) contaminate the healthcare environment; however, the relative contribution of contamination by colonized individuals is unknown. Current guidelines do not recommend the use of contact precautions for asymptomatic C difficile carriers. We evaluated C difficile environmental contamination in rooms housing adult inpatients with diarrhea based on C difficile status.

Patients colonized with C difficile frequently contaminated the hospital environment. Our data support the use of contact precautions when entering rooms of patients colonized with C difficile, especially when entering the bathroom.

This is an open access article

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